Weapons for the Believer: 1 and 2 - Love God, Love Others as You Love Yourself
A while back I posted a
question on FaceBook regarding the weapons of warfare for the Christian.
According to Paul, there are weapons of warfare.
2
Corinthians 10:3-4 (ESV)
For
though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For
the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to
destroy strongholds.
I listed a few and asked for
help with others. When all was said and done the list stood at ten. I’m still
open to hearing more if you have other thoughts. Over the next few days we will
consider the ten weapons that the Believer has at their disposal. Let’s get
started.
The first two go together.
They actually do not seem like weapons, but when you read a little further in 2
Corinthians you begin to see that the most significant battle we face is one
against our own nature.
2
Corinthians 10:5-6 (ESV)
We
destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,
and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience,
when your obedience is complete.
This is the counsel of Jesus
on how to deal with the war we wage on our nature.
1. Love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind,
and strength.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew
22:36-40 (ESV)
“Teacher,
which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You
shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the
Law and the Prophets.”
When we expend every ounce
of effort we have toward loving God completely there is nothing left with which
to fight against Him. Even though this does not sound like typical warfare, it
is certainly a way to gain an advantage over our enemy.
James
4:7-8 (ESV)
Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw
near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and
purify your hearts, you double-minded.
There is a direct
correlation to our proximity to God and the proximity of the devil to us. As we
move toward God we move away from the devil. As a matter of fact, the devil
actually moves away (flees) from us.
The second of this pair of
weapons is to love others (our neighbor) like we love ourselves. One of my
favorite C. S. Lewis quotes speaks to this aspect of the life of the Believer.
He said, “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object
presented to your senses.” God loves you. He also loves those around you just
as much. He wants you to love them as well. In doing so, you will eliminate the
possibility of so many issues that might occur between us and our “neighbors.”
This is a very strong military tactic. It is a weapon of warfare for the
Believer as well.
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